Coupler shank and yoke connection



NOV. 25, 1947. W, 1 METZGER 2,431,576

COUPLER SHANK AND YOKE CONNECTION @ya l INVENTOR NOV- 25, 1947! w. J. METZGERV 2,431,576

COUPLER SHAK AND YOKE CONNECTION Filed Nov. l, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR wlLLlAM lLMfiTzGl-:R

@GR-MCL ATTORN Y Patented Nov. 25, 1.947

iLiJNIT-ED STATES AifPAT2113NT v,iO'llICE Application Noyemser 1,- 1944, serial mgl-551,367

A`way cars.

- closed a-c0upler-shank-and yokeconnection of a The construction'sh'own in that patent isfmore 'particularly adapted for use onpassenger cars.

aforesaid andwhich;addition-a1ly, will be adapted to certain limitan-,ions` of freight car construction; -15

.end of the' car brings thevertical-lpinconnection of the rigging shown in my'priorpatent-aforesaid so near theend ofthe oar so as'tomake necessary, 25 the nse'of l a couplerihaving va comparatively short yshankgwhich, vinl Yturn-increases the degree" of `coupleriangling for which provision Inustbe made.

. important.fromanother'aspect.peculiarto freight train operation.A This can Best be illustrated' by `engines -are employed, and -inwhichthe pusher -fmust work continuously -over lthe cross-over and As the-*oars traverse the cross-over, 40 Vthey are -angularly disposed to--one another.

.- particularly in; thelcase ofl radial or swivelbutt couplers and isgespecially pronounced where-both 5o i 57i-Claims. 1

The inventionH relates to draft `rigging :for rail- In .-myprier Patent 'No.- 2,254,302 r lhave4 distype inr which-thecoupler may be angled looth` 5ll horizontallyand vrticallyrelative to --the yoke.

It is -anobject-of my'lpresent,inventionvto provide a coupler'shank-fandyoke-connection whiclt; 10y will permituniyersaLmovement 0f the coupler, which will likewise-v possess "otheradvantages inherent in theconntionlidescribed in my patent and service.

The -standard'sil-l'espaeing in freight cars is considerably less l'than inpassengerv cars, rnaking it extremely difficult to,olfgitain the requisite draft pin bearingareaf-inauniv'ersal connection. Alsdf. 20 the space limitations between'thei-orward end of the draft gear, or draft gear followerhand the These'arerelated-problems in that less angling .is possible with the closer sill spacing of .freight 30:

cars. Also, reduction 'in coupler angling isvvery assuming a `condition,under which aA heavy. train of freight cars is being pushed over a cross-.over 3.5 or turnoutzand una grade. f Let Vus assume further alcondition' 1in# `.which both-.tractor and pusher up the grade.

When the carsreach` the straightaway, theywould again come into perfect alignment-were the tractor engine alone to beconsidered, but with, the pusher acting, this 'is not always the, case. 4.5 Rather, the cars-may proceed upv the grade on the straightaway with the couplersv still in partly angledpositions. `This is undesirable as it1eads to the imposition ofA a=substantialflatera1 component of the pushing force,;which under certain 50 conditions will increase the likelihood of derailments,` and which has otherundesirablefconsequences. v.This condition `is lenrfzounteredmore s.' vertical: and horizontal. pin connections aire .em- 'ploy'e'cl since this moves the verticaldraft pin still l farther towardjthe'.. end ofthe car,r and means Y. an even. shorter. couplershank with concomitant increase in.. angling. It is, therefore, a further important. object.. of, my vinvention lto. provide a universal couplerV connection, which, within the .limitations'of existingjfreight car construction, -makes it possible tofuseja'J coupler having'a longer shank than is possible .with the connection shown in my prior. patent. aforesaid. I I have found that it is possible to accomplish this bya novel design of .yoke.connectiongwmch,permits the horizontal .;Idraftppin to beV brought closer 'to the forward end of .the draft -gear orffollower, and which further permits .the vertical draft pin ito be brought closer I'toitheihorizontalmin; Both of, these thingscon- `tribute tosbringingthe vertical-pin closer to the forward end 0f the draft gear than has been pos- Isible, heretofore.

,In-.order `tollling Vvthe ,horizontalv draft pin far- ;xther. back, I havepfoundv it desirable to decrease the :thickness of the radialjbuffmg lolock.v rIvhis,

j in turn, has required strengthening the block, which lj have accomplishedA loyl l providing v lateral flanges extendinghover thesides- .of the Vradial connecting member. .Y ,The L- provision .y of y such lflanges increasesthewidth ofthe puffing block so that `it cannot be; inserted from the front of Lthesyoke. IAA-have, however,l devised a construction which permits insertion ofthe puffing block :from thefrear oftheyoke head in sucha way as to have an interlocking engagement withthe 'head'.and so.y that, upon, connection of the radial draft. v,member tdthefyoke, the bufling block is Y maintained in its Y.interlocking `relationship 4tn the yoke shead, IThese and otherV objects and advantages ofmthe invention .will appear more 4fully as the description proceed-s.

In the drawings,

- Fig. 1; is a .vertical longitudinalsectional view of a preferredembodimentof Inyinvention taken as indicated atj l-r'liinvFig. 2. "The view shows the forward .or head.- end ofgtheyoke, theradial draft member-and theccoperatingradial puffing f. block', thevertical-draft pin beingvomitted.

Fig. 2 is ahorizontalsectional view taken as lindicatedat Zelin Fig. v1,; *andy Fig. 3 is a `transverse-verticalsectional-lrview `of the -head'of the ^yoketaker;as mdiated at. xs-,a n; Figiithe radial draft member .and bvfng .block .being omitted.

. Figs. 4:,I 5, 6 andlare ,detailyiews of the buffing 'Figi o. afrontfviewpandFig. l7 a perspective view.

The preferred construction illustrated is designed to be accommodated by the draft lugs of a freight car having standard center sill spacing. The yoke IS may be of conventional construction except for its head end, which I will describe specifically. It is designed to receive a draft gear and to be mounted between the front and rear draft stops with the draft gear or its followers abutting thereagainst. Yoke It has an integral hollow head II of generally rectangular form, the forward portion of which is of restricted width inside as at w. This width is restricted by reason of the fact that the entire head of the yoke must be accommodated between draft stops attached to the sills while a certain minimum bearing area must be maintained between the draft pin I3 and opposed apertures I2 or between the pin and bushings I5 in said apertures.

A draft member I6 having a shank Il arranged to be received between the lateral walls I3 of the hood I I is provided with an aperture in line with the apertures I2 and may have a bushing I9 therein. The shank Il of the draft member has a radial bearing surface 20 concentric with the draft pin aperture for engagement with a buiiing block 2I having a complementary radial surface 22.

The bufng block 2|, being of restricted depth, as shown in Fig. 1, is reinforced by lateral flanges 23, whose forward edges are curved in general alignment with the radial surface 22 of the block and which overlie the sides of the shank Il'.

Recesses 2@ are formed on the inside of the lateral walls I8, adjoining curved surfaces 25 formed on the inside of the head of the yoke. The curved surfaces 25 define the outside of bosses 26 surrounding the draft pin apertures I2. A small clearance is provided between surfaces 25 and the flanges 23 of the bufng block, as shown in Fig. 2.

It will be observed that the side walls lg of the hollow head are of thinner cross-section rearwardly of the apertures I2 for the horizontal draft pin. This thinner section terminates forwardly in the cylindrical or radial surface 25 partly surrounding the rear of the draft pin apertures. The forwardly curved portions of the buffing block 2i extend forwardly of a transverse plane passing through the rear point of the apertures I2 in the head of the yoke. The recesses 24 in the head also extend forwardly of this transverse plane.

At each corner of the flat rear face 2l of the bufiing block is provided a recess 28 having a vertical shoulder 29 which, when the parts are assembled, projects into one of the recesses 2li or behind one of the lugs 3G which defines the edges of the recesses 24 at each corner of the hood, holding ythe bufling block in interlocking engagement with the yoke.

I prefer that the lugs 3l] be arranged at the corners of the hood so that the portions of the rear face 2l of the bufng block which lie between the recesses 28 may project between said lugs. rIhis is illustrated both in Fig. 1 and in Fig. 2.

The surfaces which form the bottom of the recesses 28 in the bung block extend away from the shoulders 29 at an angle which is designed to permit the bufiing block to be inserted into the recesses 24 of the yoke from the rear thereof by first inserting one end of the block into said recesses and twisting the block to bring its other end into said recesses. This is illustrated by the dot-dash lines 2|a in Fig. 1. It will be observed that since the buiiing block 2l is of a greater width than the restricted portion w of the hood, it cannot be inserted from the forward end of the yoke. One of the important features of my invention resides in the construction which I have described in accordance with which the buling block and yoke are so constructed and arranged that the block can be assembled by first inserting one end and then twisting or angling it into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1. The first position is shown at 2Ia. From this position it is swung about its upper end until the curved forward surface-s of the flanges 23 engage the radial surface 25 of boss 2t of the yoke, after which the block is rotated slightly to bring it into its final assembled position. Thereafter the draft member I6 is inserted into the yoke, and once the horizontal draft pin has been inserted, the bufling block can no longer be removed from the yoke.

A complementary feature to that which I have just described is that my construction enables the horizontal draft pin to be located farther to the rear than is possible, for example, in the construction disclosed in my prior Patent 2,254,302 referred tohereinabove. Another, and related, feature resides in arranging the connection between the draft member and the shank of the coupler, i. e. the center of the vertical draft pin aperture 3i, close to the center line of the hori- Zontal draft pin. For this purpose the forward end of the hood of the yoke is beveled interiorly as at 32, permitting the radial bufng surfaces 33 of the draft and bufling member I@ to be brought close to the apertures I2.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but recognize that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

I claim:

1. In a draft rigging, a yoke having a hollow head, and a bufng block of greater width than the inside width of the forward portion of said hollow head, said buiing block having a curved forward side, recesses on the inside of said hollow head and adjoining curved surfaces formed on the inside of said head to accommodate the curved forward side of the bufng block, said bufng block being further constructed and arranged for assembly with said yoke by inserting one end of the bufling block into said recesses and twisting the block to bring its other end into said recesses.

2. In a draft rigging, a yoke having a hollow head, opposed apertures in the side walls of the hollow head to receive a draft pin, said side walls being of thinner cross-section rearwardly of said apertures than at said apertures to accommodate a bufling block having a curved forward side, the thinner section of said side walls terminating forwardly in cylindrical surfaces partly surrounding the rear of the draft pin apertures, and the curved forward side of the buing block having lateral flanges extending into proximity with said cylindrical surfaces, said thinner section of the side walls forming recesses to hold the buiiing block in assembled relationship with the yoke.

3. A draft rigging comprising a yoke, a radial draft member and a radial burhng block, said buiiing block having a curved forward side and said yoke having a hollow head, opposed apertures in said head for a draft pin extending through the radial draft member, recesses on the inside of said head for interlocking engagement with the buffing block and adjoining curved surfaces formed on the inside of said head to accommodate the curved forward side of the bufflng block, the forward portion of said head being of lesser inside width than the bufng block, the yoke and buning block being constructed and arranged for assembly by inserting one end of the block into said recesses and twisting the block to bring its other end into interlocking engagement with said recesses before assembly of the draft member with the yoke, and said yoke, buffing block and draft member being further constructed and arranged to prevent removal of the buning block when the draft member is assembled with the yoke.

4. In a draft rigging, a yoke having a hollow head, retaining lugs extending inwardly from the walls of said hollow head rearwardly of its forward portion, a bufng block of greater width than said forward portion, said buing block being insertable into interlocking engagement with said lugs, and a draft and bufling member having a shank mounted in the hollow head and coperating with the buing block to prevent its removal from interlocking engagement with said lugs, said bufng block having lateral flanges arranged to extend over the sides of said shank,

5. In a draft rigging, a yoke having a hollow head of generally rectangular form, a draft and bufng member having a shank of a width approximating the inside width of the forward portion of said yoke, a bufng block for cooperation with the shank of said draft member, said block having lateral flanges arranged to extend over the sides of said shank and into recesses formed on the inside of the lateral walls of said head, the bufing block being of greater width than the inside width of said forward portion of the head.

6. In a draft rigging, a yoke having a hollow head of generally rectangular form, a draft member extending into the forward portion of said hollow head, aligned circular apertures in the lateral walls of the head and the shank of the draft member, said apertures in the lateral walls of the head being located in said forward portion of the head, recesses on the inside of said head extending forwardly of a transverse plane passing through the rear point of the apertures in the head, and a bufng block constructed and arranged for assembly with yoke by inserting one end of the block into said recesses and twisting the block to bring its other end into said recesses.

7. In a draft rigging, a yoke having a hollow head of generally rectangular form, a draft member extending into the forward portion of said hollow head, aligned circular apertures in the lateral walls of the head and the shank of the draft member, said apertures in the lateral walls of the head being located in said forward portion of the head, recesses on the inside of said head extending forwardly of a transverse plane passing through the rear point of the apertures in the head, and a buffing block having a curved forward side for cooperation with the shank of the draft member, said bufling block being constructed and arranged for assembly with said yoke by inserting one end of the bufling block into said recesses and twisting the block to bring its other end into said recesses so that the forwardly curved portions of the block are in interlocking engagement with the head of the yoke and eX- tend forwardly of said plane.

WILLIAM J. METZGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,254,302 Metzger Sept. 2, 1941 1,192,191 Harris July 25, 1916 1,681,784 Pilcher Aug. 21, 1928 1,961,354 Hazeltine June 5, 1934 

